Writing pen

ABSTRACT

A writing pen or pencil having a plurality of refills, a pushrod suspended from a pushbutton and being movable into selected positions defined by a positioning contour, such as a square recess.

United States Patent [72] lnvcmor Gerold Andreka [56] References Cited PH A I N g age Germany UNITED STATES PATENTS 9 v [22] Filed Dec 12, 1969 3,262,426 7/1966 Bross 401/33 451 Patented Mar. 30, 1971 FORElGN PATENTS [73} Assignee Riepe-Werk 1,052,922 12/1966 Great Britain 401/33 Hamburg, Germany 1,249,728 9/1967 Germany 401/33 Pnomy 23x35; 968 Primary Examiner--Lawrence Charles P 18 15 321.4 Attorney-Lining and Siegel [54] WRITING PEN 8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.Cl... 401/33 ABSTRACT: A writing pen or pencil having a plurality of [51] Int.Cl 843k 27/14 refills, a pushrod suspended from a: pushbutton and being [50] Field of Search 401/32- movable into selected positions defined by a positioning con- -33, 29, 30 tour, such as a square recess.

warrant; PEN

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE INVENTION The present invention relates to multicolor writing pens or pencils. I

A mechanism in multicolor writing pens or pencils which has already been proposed comprises a pushbutton adapted to push a selected writing refill from a sleeve into writing posi tion. For the selection of the desired writing refill a pushrod is suspended from the underside of the pushbutton in such a way that the rod is free to swing within a solid angle embracing the heads of the writing refills. By holding the writing pen at an appropriate angle and rotating the same about its axis the user can make the pushrod drop into register with a desired writing refill. By then depressing the pushbutton the rod can be advanced to push forward the selected writing refill until its writing point projects from the end of the pen. The correct positions for the selection of the writing refills are'indicated by corresponding color markings on the outside of the pen.

In conventional multicolor writing pens or pencils of the specified kind the pushrod rolls on the surface of an imaginary cone while the pen or pencil is rotated as described. However, if prior to the depression of the pushbutton the pen is not held exactly in the position indicated by the color marking or if it is not kept steady when the button is about to be depressed, the end of the pushrod will not register with the head of a writing refill and depression of the pushbutton may then cause the pushrod and/or a writing refill to jam and the mechanism can thus be damaged.

It has already been proposed to provide guide or positioning means in the form of polygonal recesses directly above the heads of the writing refills, in such manner that the free deflectable end of the pushrod will'be received into one of the corners of the positioning contour which guides the pushrod so that it engages correctly the selected refill head.

in another proposed arrangement, deflecting faces forming segments of truncated cones are provided between the guideways for the refills, but these are insufficient to prevent faulty action if adequate care is not taken when manipulating the pen.

Moreover, all these devices necessitate the provision of complicated injection molds for their production and the parts of the sleeve must be made with extreme precision.

it is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a multicolor writing pen or pencil containing means for positioning the pushrod, which are easy to make.

BRlEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a multicolor writing pen or pencil having a plurality of writing refills comprising a pushrod suspended from an actuating pushbutton above the heads of the writing refills and movable into selected positions defined by a positioning contour, being the point of suspension of the pushrod being located between the positioning contour and the writing refills.

Preferably, the positioning contour may have the form of a polygonal and more particularly a square section recess inside the pushbutton.

in a preferred embodiment, the pendent suspension comprises an annular disc which is press fitted or adhesively bonded or soldered into the pushbutton, and a pivot plate attached to the pendant pushrod in a position about four-fifths of the length of the pushrod about its deflectable end. Freferably a second annular disc is fitted into the pushbutton above the pivot plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING PEG. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of the upper part of a multicolor pen constructed in accordance with the present invention; 1

MG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the upper part of the pen of FIG. ll, showing the pushrod in deflected position; and

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the pushbutton and of the positioning contour, taken along the lines Ill-III of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The upper part of a multicolor pen or pencil shown in FIGS. l to 3 comprises a barrel 2, an actuating pushbutton inserted into the open upper end of the barrel 2 and a pushrod 6 suspended from the bottom 4. The pushbutton 4 contains a bore 8 which has an open bottom end and contains two in wardly projecting shoulders 10 and 12 for locating two annular discs M and i6. A pivot plate 18 is fixed on the upper part of a pushrod 6 and retains the pushrod 6 in such a way that it is suspended thereby. It is essential for the proper functioning of this arrangement that the hole I5 in the annular disc 14 should have a sufficiently large diameter to provide freedom for the pushrod 6 to be able to swing about below the pivot plate 18. This also applies to the .hole 17 in the annular disc to. The

distance between the two annular discs Hi and 16 must likewise be sufficient to permit the necessary swinging movements of the pushrod 6, but it should nevertheless not provide excessive clearance for movements of the pushrod 6 in the axial direction. r

A recess 20 provided, above the annular disc 16 is fashioned, as shown in FIG. 3, to form a positioning contour 22. In the illustrated example of a 4-color pen, this contour is a square providing four selectable positions at the comers of the square.

Nevertheless, any alternative method of suspension of the pushrod 6 could be provided in place of the preferred suspension shown in the drawings.

In conventional manner, the pushrod is positioned, as may be desired, by rotating the multicolor pen, which must be held at an angle, about its longitudinal axis until the end of the pushrod drops by gravity into alignment with the selected writ ing refill. In this position, as shown in FIG. 2, the upper end 7 of the pushrod 6 will be received into one of the corners, viz 23, between two faces of the positioning contour 22. which has four such corners 23, 23, 2.3" and 23.3".

The production of the pushbutton and of the means for suspending the pushrod 6 are simple. The positioning contour formed by the polygonal internal recess is preferably formed in the pushbutton when this is produced as an injection molding in conventional dies. The upper annular disc 16 can be a press fit, adhesively bonded or soldered into place. The same applies to the lower annular disc 14 which can likewise be press fitted, adhesively bonded or soldered after the pushrod has been threaded through the ring. Alternatively, the rings could be held in position by conventional snap action fixing means, such as projections or bulges.

The arrangement described hereinbefore ensures reliable positioning of the pushrod 6 inside the pushbutton 4. Compared to proposed multicolor pens or pencils, the problems of fitting the positioning contour within the pen or pencil and of assembling the various parts are solved. in an extremely simple and effective way in the preferred arrangement described hereinbefore.

lclaim:

t. A multicolor writing pen or pencil having a plurality of writing refills comprising a pushrod suspended from an actuating pushbutton above the heads of the writing refills and movable into selected positions defined by a positioning contour, the point of suspension of the pushrod being located between the positioning contour and the writing refills.

2.. The writing pen or pencil according to claim ll, wherein said positioning contour is formed in said pushbutton.

3. The writing pen or pencil according to claim 2 wherein said pushrod is suspended from an annular disc secured to said pushbutton, said annular disc engaging a pivot plate attached to said pushrod about four-fifths along the length of the said pushrod away from the end of the pushrod which moves the selected writing refills.

said positioning contour is a polygonal recess.

7. The writing pen or pencil according to claim 4, wherein said annular discs are located by projections which provide a snap action fit between said discs and said pushbutton.

8. The writing pen or pencil according to claim 5, wherein said positioning contour is a square-shaped recess. 

1. A multicolor writing pen or pencil having a plurality of writing refills comprising a pushrod suspended from an actuating pushbutton above the heads of the writing refills and movable into selected positions defined by a positioning contour, the point of suspension of the pushrod being located between the positioning contour and the writing refills.
 2. The writing pen or pencil according to claim 1, whereIn said positioning contour is formed in said pushbutton.
 3. The writing pen or pencil according to claim 2, wherein said pushrod is suspended from an annular disc secured to said pushbutton, said annular disc engaging a pivot plate attached to said pushrod about four-fifths along the length of the said pushrod away from the end of the pushrod which moves the selected writing refills.
 4. The writing pen or pencil according to claim 3, wherein a second annular disc is secured in said pushbutton above said pivot plate.
 5. The writing pen or pencil according to claim 4, wherein said annular discs are located by annular shoulders formed in said pushbutton.
 6. The writing pen or pencil according to claim 5, wherein said positioning contour is a polygonal recess.
 7. The writing pen or pencil according to claim 4, wherein said annular discs are located by projections which provide a snap action fit between said discs and said pushbutton.
 8. The writing pen or pencil according to claim 5, wherein said positioning contour is a square-shaped recess. 